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--> --> Associated Press Nurses crowd the sidewalk Monday in front of Oregon Health & Science University as they begin striking in Portland. OHSU: Hospital well-staffed Officials say despite a strike by nurses, they are operating at near full capacity PORTLAND (AP) - Oregon Health & Science University reopened its emergency room to high-level trauma cases Monday afternoon but continued to postpone non-urgent heart procedures on the first day of a strike by 1,500 nurses. Hospital officials said OHSU is well staffed and operating at nearly full capacity despite the first walkout by Oregon nurses in a decade. "We wanted to keep the place up and running," said Dr. Roy Magnusson, medical director at Oregon's busiest hospital campus, which also houses the state's only medical school. The strike began at 7:30 a.m. Monday, when nurses walked off the job after a majority voted to reject OHSU's latest contract offer. Replacements began arriving from around the nation over the weekend; all are licensed to work in Oregon and meet OHSU standards, officials said. Managers arrived at work early Monday to help the replacements through the computer systems, and additional physicians were called in to double- and triple-staff the units and wards. "We're very pleased with the OHSU staff who have come in today," Magnusson said. "There are a number of nurses who despite the noise and honking outside have had the courage to come and take care of the patients, and that's been very helpful." Each replacement nurse supplied by a national staffing agency costs the university $52 an hour, plus housing and transportation. Officials declined to say how many replacements arrived to work Monday. Magnusson estimated a third of the nurses scheduled to work the day shift crossed the picket line. The Oregon State Board of Nursing hasn't tallied the number of applications from out-of-state nurses, but a spokeswoman said the board has seen a "significant increase" in the past few weeks. OHSU's admission rate dropped from 80 percent to 73 percent from Sunday to Monday, Magnusson said. Some patients worried about the quality of replacement nurses' care. "I'm hoping this is over before I deliver my baby," said Johnya Marcell, a Portland woman hospitalized since October because of a high-risk pregnancy. In sympathy with the nurses who have cared for her, Marcell left her hospital room momentarily Monday morning to join the picket line. Less sympathetic was George Starr of Portland, who was considering having spine surgery. "The nurses that voted for a strike were not thinking of their patients," he said. Nurses are clashing with hospital executives over working conditions, stagnant wages and the worsening shortage of registered nurses. The Oregon Nurses Association, which represents the striking nurses, says the medical center needs to raise wages to attract young people to the profession and keep older nurses from leaving. The nurses want a 19 percent pay increase over two years, while management offered a 14 percent raise over 27 months. OHSU also offered to pay part of a scheduled increase in health-insurance premiums, but not as much as the nurses had sought. OHSU nurses earn about $18 to $28 an hour, $2 to $3 less than at the state's highest-paying hospitals. OHSU counters that it compensates by contributing 12 percent of the nurses' salary to their retirement plans. No contract talks are scheduled. The last strike by Oregon nurses was in 1990, when a walkout at Medford's Rogue Valley Medical Center lasted five weeks. Email your... Technical questions & comments to: WebMaster Daily Tidings editorial comments & questions to: Editor Visit our other Oregon Newspapers... | Albany Democrat-Herald | Ashland Daily Tidings | Corvallis Gazette-Times | | Lebanon Express | Newport News-Times | Springfield News | Cottage Grove Sentinel | Ashland Daily Tidings 1661 Siskiyou Blvd. Ashland, OR 97520 Telephone 541-482-3456 © Copyright 2001 Lee Northwest Publishing